Mark Ferrulo: Real election reform isn't what Florida is getting

April 1, 2013|By Mark Ferrulo, By Mark Ferrulo

Florida's elections must be free, fair and accessible. But the 2012 election in Florida, where long lines forced many voters to wait several hours to exercise their fundamental civic duty to vote, once again made Florida the poster child for election disasters.

Outdated registration records, cuts to the early voting period and poll sites that ran out of ballots all contributed to the problem. An Ohio State University study found that at least 201,000 Floridians gave up in frustration and went home without voting because of long lines.

In one Miami precinct, election officials shut down a polling location when a huge crowd showed up for early voting. Outside the locked doors frustrated voters yelled, "We want to vote!" On Election Day, even more Florida voters stood in long lines that stretched for blocks.

Their determination to make their voices heard was inspiring, but they should never have had to wait in line for six hours to do it.

These most recent seeds of election dysfunction were sown in 2011, when Gov. Rick Scott and his allies in the legislature enacted numerous policies that made it harder to vote — all of which especially impacted Black and Latino voters, seniors, young people and the working poor.

Access to voting should not be undermined by politicians looking to manipulate the system for their own gain, but that's exactly what happened when Gov. Scott signed into law what amounted to a "Voter Suppression Act" in 2011.

Widespread public outcry has forced Gov. Scott and legislative leadership back to the table in order to consider rolling back their disastrous 2011 law. Floridians rallied in 23 cities and towns as part of the Awake The State movement on the opening day of the Florida legislative session, March 5th, calling for comprehensive election reform.

The question is what kind of changes emerge when the legislature adjourns in May - real reform or just window dressing?

Real election reform means creating a 21st century voter registration system. Giving voters the choice to register online would add hundreds of thousands of voters to the rolls.

In addition, voters should be able to update their voter registration address on Election Day, just as they could prior to the harmful changes made to election law in 2011.

Early voting is supposed to make the process easier by giving citizens the opportunity to vote at their convenience. For Florida's working families early voting is often the only way to cast a ballot. But many of Florida's early voters faced outrageous wait times that stretched for more than six hours. To prevent such delays in the future, the state must restore early voting to 14 days, including the Sunday before Election Day, and ensure voting for at least 12 hours each day.

Real election reform also means reasonably sized ballots, not page after page of legalese few, including lawmakers, can understand. Florida must reinstitute the 75-word limit on all proposed constitutional amendments by ending the nonsensical exemption for legislatively proposed amendments.

It's time to stop politicians from manipulating election laws for partisan gain. Rather than treating democracy as a political football, our lawmakers should enshrine the right to vote into our state constitution. This would not only resolve the problems we saw in this past election, it would protect the right to vote in more effective and meaningful ways in the future, once and for all.

Unfortunately, the so called "election reform" bill passed by the Florida House during the first week of the legislative session doesn't enact any of the above much needed reforms. It will be up to the Florida Senate to deliver the real leadership needed on this critical issue.

We need true election reform, so that all eligible citizens who uphold their responsibility to participate in our democracy can cast a ballot and know it counts.